Miss
Manners is for prisses. Etiquette Schmetiquette is back for it’s
second installment, dishing all-new, down-to-earth advice on
common-sense etiquette for quasi-adult quandaries. This week: booze-free
parties and kid-free weddings.

Liquor-less
parties...Q:
I'm twenty and in college. Having just moved into my own apartment, I'm
thinking about throwing a party sometime in the near future. However, I
am NOT comfortable serving alcohol (even if I could purchase it
legally). I've always felt that people can spend their own money on
liquor, but I'm not going to endorse their drinking. Most people my age
just don't have the self-control that, say, my parents or grandparents
exert when it comes to alcohol. Is it rude not to supply some sort of
alcoholic beverage to guests? I'm asking for future reference, since my
twenty-first birthday is coming up (and thus my excuse for a lack of
liquor will disappear).

Sincerely,
A wary host.

A: It’s your party and you can serve
what you want to – so I see no reason why you should feel rude for
offering an array of non-alcoholic tasty beverages in place of the
standard beer, wine and liquor. Anyone who thinks otherwise needs to get
out of that freshman mentality that says that how much fun you have is
directly proportionate to how much liquor you’ve had. While I
personally quite enjoy the occasional harmless night of drinking and
debauchery, the fact is that some of the craziest, most memorable nights
of my life have taken place sans liquid stimulus. And anyway, no
one expects to find hot dogs at a barbecue hosted by a vegetarian, so
why assume that a non-drinking host should provide tequila and
microbrews?

Offer up some exotic fruit nectars (I’m a big fan of Kern’s
All-Nectar Mango, in particular), fill a cooler with some gourmet sodas,
whip up some frosty smoothies, make up a big batch of punch, fresh
sparkling lemonade, hot cider for the winter months – frankly, as long
as you, the hostess, have gone to the trouble of presenting something
more

exciting than water or milk to drink, guests will be so impressed
by your efforts that, unless they’re truly lushes, they’ll find no
cause for complaint.

Ask
Etiquette Schmetiquette.
e-mail
your questions to us and get answers in future installments of
Etiquette Schmetiquette!